Saying 'I Love You'
by Bourgeois Babe
Summary: Claire likes Leon, but she's not sure if he does, too. Final Chapter up!
1. Chapter One: ACHOO!

Saying, "I love you"  
  
  
  
'ACHOO!' I sneezed, wiping my nose with a tissue. The words, 'Damn cold' came from my mouth as my head fell back to the pillow. A knock came from the door, strong yet quiet. 

"Hey, it's me," Leon's voice came from the door. 

"Come in," I managed to say with my nasal passages clogged with snot. I felt as though I really didn't care what I looked like at the moment. 

The door opened and Leon came in, looking handsome and quiet as usual. His two-inch dirty blonde hair fell naturally to both sides of his head, requiring not a drop of gel or anything like that. His crystal blue eyes shone through the slight brightness that entered my apartment living room. Still in his police uniform, he walked across the hardwood floor to the couch where I laid. 

"I just got off my shift, thought I might come over and see how you're feeling," he said, sitting down and putting my feet on his lap.

 I made a thumbs-down to him, and he smiled. 

"Yeah, I figured. Is Chris gone already?" he asked, referring to my brother. I gave a nod. Chris Redfield was my older brother. We shared the same brown eyes and hair and fair skin. He stood a little taller than Leon did, making me look like a dwarf. Leon was about seven inches taller than I at 6'2". They both worked for R.P.D. in the S.T.A.R.S. program. 

Leon took the remote from the coffee table and switched it off. 

"Thanks, that was giving me a headache," I whispered. 

"Want me to rub your head for you?" he asked, pushing up his sleeves.

"Sure, that'd be great." I changed positions so my head was on a pillow in his lap. He put a soft hand on my forehead and began to rub. I began to doze off.  
  


When I woke up, I was wrapped in my quilt on my bed. 

"Leon?" I called, hoping he hadn't left already. 

"Yeah, I'm in the kitchen making some soup, be right out." I laid there, my eyes fixed on the ceiling fan, watching it until I heard the clanging of dishes in my room. 

He had taken off some articles of clothes, left in his pants, socks, and a wifebeater. He walked across, setting the tray of condensed soup and tea on the night stand. 

Sitting up, I took the tray in my lap and began to eat, feeling the warm soup trail down my throat. 

"Mind if I take a seat?" he asked, motioning to my Queen bed. 

I nodded. 

He took a seat next to me, putting his muscular body under the covers. 

"So, I take you're feeling better?" he asked, looking over to me with gleaming eyes. 

I nodded, slurping the last spoonful of soup. I gulped down the tea and wiped the excess from my mouth with a sleeve. He chuckled. 

"What?" I asked, putting the tray up. 

"Nothing. Just." He laughed. I playfully punched him in the arm. 

"What?" 

"You missed a spot." 

Instantaneously, I placed my arm on my mouth, feeling my cheeks get red. 

"Gone?" I asked, hoping that he would stop his chuckling. 

He shook his head. 

"Here, I'll get it." He reached over and wiped a spot on my chin off with his cold hands. 

"Thanks." He nodded. "Thanks for coming over, I mean, I would still be feeling horribly if you hadn't come over." 

"Don't mention it. What are friends for?"

Friends. Why just friends? From that moment he saved me from that brain- munching zombie, I had fallen for him. Was he too thickheaded to realize that? 

"It's getting dark. I guess I should head home. I don't think your dear old bro would think too much of me if he saw me here alone with you, huh?" he said, adding a chuckle. 

He got up, heading out the door. 

"Hey, Leon?" I called, not wanting him to leave. "D'you think you would want to stay and watch a movie? I'm sure Chris wouldn't care about that." Although I really didn't care what my 'dear old bro' thought, I knew that Leon really had to be on his guard; Chris being his boss and all. He contemplated it.

 "Sure, what the hell. It's not like Chris would fire me." He walked over and quickly picked me up, without I having a say in it, and ran me into the other room. He plopped me on the couch, calling me a 'screaming monkey' and placed the movie, 'Scroodged' into the VCR. 

"Any plans for Halloween?" he asked, sitting down next to me and pulling the quilt down from the couch back. 

"Not yet. I might go to the company party with Chris and Jill." The company party was a yearly Halloween party that R.P.D. put on for all of it's off-duty cops. 

"You can't go with those two! They'll just leave you there while they go make out in the supply room." We laughed. 

"Well, do you have a better idea, mister?" I joked, giving him a poke in the shoulder. 

"For your information, I do. I believe we should go together. I'm free on Halloween." He winked. I wasn't sure if he was joking or not. 

"As in…a date?" I gulped down the saliva that had gathered in my mouth. 

"Oh, no, no. I mean…as friends." "In that case, sure. We should go as…" 

"Zombie killers? Naw, we've done that twice already." We laughed.

"Fifties couple." 

"Leather jackets and stuff?" he asked. I nodded. He chuckled, 

"I have this leather jacket that I never get to wear. Finally, some use to it." 

"That old, raggedy one?" 

"Yeah, I think I showed it to you." I laughed. "You'll have to poof out your hair." 

That was an image that lasts. Leon with Elvis hair.


	2. Chapter Two: Interrupted by Big Bro

Saying, "I love you" Pt. 2 

A rat-tat-tat came at the apartment door. 

"Hey Chris, could you get the door?" I called to my brother, applying my lipstick.

Silence.

"Chris?!" I growled, thinking of obscenities in my head. I put my lipstick down and stormed into the living room. On the couch were Chris and Jill, staring into eachother's eyes as though they were hypnotized. I coughed, and it didn't take their attention away from the other.

"Oh, boy," I murmured, and then went to open the door.

Beyond it was Leon, his hair slicked forward, eyes still gleaming. He was wearing his black, worn leather jacket over a white tee-shirt. His faded blue jeans were cuffed to the top of his black converse all-stars.

He chuckled.

"What?" I asked, adding, "another noodle?"

After chuckling from the bad joke, he commented, "Naw, you just…didn't finish your make-up. It looks kinda goofy."

I shook my head, laughing. "You don't like it? I was thinking of going this way. But, oh, well," I joked, shrugging. 

He came in, saw Jill and Chris, and decided to proceed down the hall to my room. I went straight to my little make-up area and began to apply to the other side of my face.

Leon came in and plopped onto the bed.

"Did you see those get-ups Jill and Chris were wearing? I never thought Chris would look like such a fruit in a knight's costume."

I chuckled. "Yeah, Jill probably talked him into it. He would probably let her sit on his shoulders everyday if she asked."

He gave a hearty laugh, then subsided into thought.

"Whatcha thinking about?" I asked.

"Oh, not a lot. Nothing important."

I finished up my make-up and showed Leon. "How do I look?" I asked, spinning.

He clapped. "Very nice. I like the doggie." 

I glanced down at my skirt. On the black wool skirt was a picture of a puppy. 

"Don't ask…" I joked, shaking my head.

We left my room and met back in the living room where Chris and Jill hadn't made a move yet. They were just sitting there, eyes locked.

"Hey, kids, we're leaving now," Leon called, opening the door.

"Huh?" asked Chris. "Yeah, whatever."

Leon and I laughed as we left the room, closing the door behind us.

As we entered the gateway to the R.P.D. station, I felt a tingle down my spine. I hadn't seen this place before without it crawling with the undead. 

We stopped before the double doors.

"You ever feel like the T-Virus could outbreak again? Maybe that we'd be swept into the whole thing over again?"

"Everyday."

"Then why do you work here?"

"Well, I don't know."

I thought for a moment. It would've been perfect if he had said, 'Maybe because of yo-'

"Maybe because of you."

I did a double take. Did that just happen?

"Let's go inside, it's cold out here," he commented, and put a hand on my back to lead me.

As soon as he opened the door, the music that blared seemed to fill the hall. The monster mash was playing, and all of the dressed up cops were dancing or drinking.

A man dressed as Frankenstein came up to us with a camera in hand.

"Hey, Kennedy, Mrs. Kennedy, Nice to see ya tonight. Nice costumes. Here," the masked man said, taking two pictures and went on his way.

"Mrs. Kennedy?" I asked jokingly.

"Yeah," he laughed, "I guess so."

A woman in roller-skates skated by, giving us a glass of wine each. Leon took a drink.

"You wanna dance?" he asked, obviously bored.

"Sure," I replied. We put our glasses down, and I took his hand and pulled him onto the dance area.

The song's tempo changed to a slow, waltz-like melody.

Not knowing what to do, I pulled his hand on my waist and the other in my hand.

"Watch. You go back slow, then back fast, dip. Then I go forward slow, forward fast, dip. Easy, huh?"

He stood dumbfounded for a second. "Ok, I think I got it." He smiled and we started to dance.

After a few 'oww's and stepped-on feet, he began to get a hang of it. As we glanced around, we saw people staring at us. 

"People are staring at us," I commented into his ear.

"Yeah, I noticed," he replied, making a funny face. 

The song stopped and the quartet began to play something fast.

"Again?" he asked, and I nodded, taking his hand again. I led him in the swing dance, showing him the basic moves.

A few dances later, we were the life of the party. Most people had just quit dancing, for the two of us showed them down. At one point, we were surrounded by a large group of masked people. 

By our ump-teenth dance, Leon and I stopped dancing. Not only were our feet blistering, we had become very tired. Leon invited me outside for some air.

Sitting down on the bench, Leon put his elbows on his knees and locked his hands together, his head bowed down.

"You're a great dancer," I complemented, taking in a breath of the cold Raccoon City air. Not too far away I heard the sound of trick-or-treaters squealing with laughter and happiness. 

He laughed, "Thanks to you."

"You remember the night we met?" I asked, watching the stars as they reminded me of that October night.

"Yeah, I don't think I could forget. In more ways than one," he reminisced, staring up to the sky like I. "I remember being scared as Hell. But then, I saw you and saw how frightened you were, so I realized I had to be strong for you."

"I remember to be so glad to see you. It was the first face that I saw that wasn't infested with maggots." I laughed, thinking how unromantic that was.

He chuckled. 

"Getting cold out here," I stated, rubbing my arms with my hands.

He took off his leather jacket and put it around my shoulders.

"Better?" he asked.

"A little."

He put and arm on my shoulder. "Better?"

My face felt red. "Yeah," I replied, feeling a little embarrassed. His blue eyes met my brown ones, and for that moment, time had stopped. His face got closer and closer to mine until…

"Claire!"

{The end…for now! A special thank-you to Lin, Shin, Santiago, and REM for reviewing (Well, I might add). And, if you could, lemme know if there are any ideas you want in the story. Reviews = another chapter soon! Love you all- catie B.}


	3. Chapter Three

Leon's head jerked to the right. Jill's voice was coming up the steps.

"Claire! Leon!" she called.

Leon and I got up and approached her. When we saw her, she had changed and had her gun out and loaded.

"What's the matter?" I asked.

"The…The zombies…they're back!" she said, pointing her gun towards the stairs.

I held on tightly to Leon's arm. He was quavering just as much as I was. The sound of flesh scraping against the ground came near. 

Pulling out a .45 magnum, Leon jutted to the sound, a tight arm around me. Chris was there, his face dirtied with ketchup and his clothes torn. His grin showed through. I looked back to Jill. She was laughing.

"Oh my goodness, you should've seen the look on your faces!" Jill laughed.

"Yeah," chimed Chris.

I felt the anger rise up in me. Not so much about them playing a horrible trick on us, but interrupting a moment that could've been all I ever wanted.

"You jackass!" I yelled, shoving Chris with my bare hands. 

"Woah- it was just a joke."

I laughed. "I know that, but it was still stupid!"

Leon put his magnum back in its holster.

"Are you guys coming in?" asked Chris, motioning to the door.

"Umm…not me, I am going home, I think," Leon replied. 

"Yeah, I think I'll head home, too," I added.

"Okay, you two love birds, have fun!" Jill said, taking Chris' hand and entering the station.

And then there were two. We began to walk down the stairs to the parking lot. Leon stuffed his hands in his pockets and I put my cold hands in his leather jacket pockets.

I giggled. "When will they ever understand that we're just…" I began, seeing Leon's face near mine. Our lips met. They were as soft as they looked. He pulled away.

"Understand that we're what?" he asked slyly.

I stood dumbfounded, not knowing what to say.

"Better as a couple than them."

"Oh, so we're a couple now?"

"No…I mean, maybe."

"Because I really wouldn't mind…you know…" He gave a lop-sided grin.

Our lips met again, this time a little more passionately. He slipped two hands on my waist and I placed mine on the back of his neck.

I'd had a lot of kissing experience when I was younger, but there was something about this one. There was something very special about Leon.

We broke off and kept our hands on each other. He bent in pecked my lips a few times, then smiled. 

"You don't know…" he chuckled, "how long I've waited for that moment."

"Oh, you don't even know."

"Say, do you want to go back to my place?"

"Woah- hold your horses, buddy."

"Oh! Not that way, Claire! I mean, for some food and a movie? Give out some candy to trick-or-treaters?"

I laughed at my mistake. "Sure."

He took my hands and we began to walk. His apartment wasn't too far from the station, as he had said earlier.

As I looked to his face, I studied his features. He had a funny-looking content smile on his face like the 'slip into the bubble bath' feeling. His eyes were open and alert, showing the pretty blue pigment of his eyes. Suddenly he looked down to me. A smile crossed his lips and he kept walking, eyes intent on keeping their sights on me.

"You might think it's a little early to say so…more like WAY too early but I have all there pent up feelings inside and…well…"

He cocked an eyebrow. "Go on?"

"Iloveyou."

"What?"

"I love you," I said much slower this time.

He stopped walking. "Here's my apartment," he stated quickly and pulled out his card key. After sliding it through the lock, the light turned green and we went through the unlocked door.

I was confused at the fact he hadn't said anything. 

"Why aren't yo-," I began. I quieted as he put a finger to his lips and pointed up stairs. A husband and wife were arguing.

He unlocked and opened the door to his apartment. A peppermint smell filled my nose. It reminded me of the smell Leon seemed to carry everywhere. After switching on the lights, I saw that the apartment was a lot smaller than Chris' and mine. The entry was the living room, kitchen, and bedroom. There was one other door that led to the bathroom.

After shutting the door he suddenly spoke. "Sorry about that. You can't say anything around my landlord and his wife when they fight or my rent goes up."

"That's not fair," I consoled.

"Yeah, tell me about it."

"So…about what I said…"

He became nervous and uncomfortable.

"Yeah?"

"Well…do you have anything to say back?"

"You mean…that I love you too?" he asked sincerely. "That I want to spend eternity with you? That I've wanted you since the first day I saw you?" 

"Ummm…?"

"I love you, too," he simply said, intertwining his fingers in mine and kissing me gently.


	4. Chapter Four

As we kissed, Leon's shirt seemed to travel off of his body. He threw it onto the couch, his hands regaining their place on my hips. I slid my palms onto his muscular chest, feeling the curves and warm skin that I yearned to touch.

"You hungry?" he asked as our lips parted.

"Yeah, a little bit."

"I'll go make us some soup, hmm?"

"Sounds great."

He turned to walk to the kitchen area and I grabbed his belt loop and tugged along with him.

"Choo-choo!" he joked.

I laughed. "I love you."

"I love you too." He turned around suddenly to face me. "Move in."

"What?"

"Move in…with me? Ditch Chris! I bet you that Jill and he are going to move in together anyway, and I can-,"

"Yes."

"support you with my earnings from… Really? Great! When do you want to?"

"Tomorrow."

"Wow, great!"

"I can't believe it!"

"Either can I!"

We laughed. "We're a couple, then, now?"

"Yeah, I guess so, Claire."

"I liked your hair better when it was brown."

"Me too. But I only dyed it because you wanted me to."

"We'll redo it tomorrow. Our first day living together?"

"Yeah…" His face bowed into mine. We kissed once more.

"Just an hour ago…we were friends…now we're lovers?"

"Yeah. But, I had always loved you."

"I as well."

"You what?" Chris screamed.

"I'm moving in with Leon."

"Chris, don't get so mad," Jill calmed. She was sitting on the couch, her legs dangling off.

"That's impossible! You can't move in with a man! He's my age, Claire! You're still a girl!"

"I'm nineteen, Chris! I can do what I please! He is only four years above me, and we're in love! There's nothing you can do about it!"

Chris crossed his arms and sighed. 

"Well, good riddance because Jill's moving in."

I looked to Jill. She was just as surprised as I was.

"Yeah!" Chris said, "you heard me!"

I ran to my room and pulled the suitcase from under my bed, opened it, and began to shove my belongings into it.

"Damn Chris…I'm not a child…"

I slid all of the things off my make-up table into my suitcase. After locking it, I left my room.

"Bye, Jill," I stated, not bothering with Chris.

After leaving the apartment, I saw Leon outside. "How did he take it?"

"Not well."

"Yeah, I heard through the door."

"Well then…"

Leon pulled out a box from his pocket.

"Hair dye," he stated, shaking the box.

"Look at that guy, he's pretty hot. Not as much as you, though."

He laughed. After taking my suitcase, he put his free hand in mine and we walked down the hallway.

"Have you ever been in love before this?" I asked.

"No. I've had flings, but not love like this."

"Me too. I thought I had it when I met this man named Steve, but I knew I loved you all along."

After leaving, we got into his little blue Jeep.

He began to drive and I turned up the radio.

I began to sing aloud to, 'Buttercup.' Leon pitched in loudly. He wasn't the best singer; well, no policemen were. 

They pulled up to the apartment, Leon stopped the car, and they looked to each other.

"So…"

"So…"

"This is the start to our new lives together."

"Yeah, I guess it is."

"You know, when I said 'I love you' in high school, it really didn't mean anything. Now… when I say it, it's special. It actually means something."

"'I love you' is more than words. It is actions, too. Actions that I will always show. So even if I stop saying them, I will always love you."

They ended their conversation with a kiss.

{Man, I don't really want to write anymore right now, I feel like I'd drag the story into the ground. Maybe if you guys had some ideas then I might be able to help. Anyhoo, I might not write for a few months on RE, I am writing my novel: I am a third through. It's named 'Jamie's Story' for my sister. Anyway, you might want to check it out. I also write on Harry Potter and I plan on FFX. Did you know that they're making an FFX-2? Crazy, huh? Man, does Yuna look like a whore or what? Jesus. Haha! Anyway, I love all of you that reviewed my stories. I hope to keep you as steadfast fans. I love you! Bye!}


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